A Break in the Rain
by CrashinatorB1000
Summary: Despite the months passing, Ichigo is still upset that he is now powerless. It seems nothing can bring him out of his sadness. But perhaps an unexpected visit from an old ally can bring him happiness...
1. An Unexpected Visit

_Hueco Mundo, 7 months after the White Invasion_

* * *

Things had gone back to a relative quiet after the excitement of Aizen's arrival. The ultimate defeat of Aizen and his Arrancar army had created a power vacuum that was quickly filled by the Tercera Espada, Tier Harribel. Rallying the other surviving Arrancars she was able to establish a quiet peace as the queen and they were content to live in Las Noches, away from Soul Reapers and wanna-be Transcendent beings.

Usually the only sounds that could be heard in the endless desert (aside from Menos fighting each other) came from Las Noches. Nearby hollows could hear dull thuds of opponents clashing at high speeds. These sounds came from the training of the mighty Arrancars, specifically from the "Tres Bestias." They were Harribel's fraccions, enforcers, and some might say friends. Though they might not admit it, after their near deaths in the war they had grown closer and they now strove to become stronger so that they might protect each other as well as other hollows. They would often train with Harribel herself but lately they were training with another.

"Would you two pay attention?! We'll never catch her at this rate!" yelled an irritable voice.

"Shut up Mila Rose! You're the reason we're all out of sync, you cow! You with your big ass t—"

"Both of you idiots stay focused. Surely you don't expect me to make up for your incompetence, do you?"

"SHUT UP SUNG-SUN!" Their opponent couldn't help but smirk at their antics. She'd gotten used to it in the past few months.

"C'mon girls! You're getting better at this. I might have to start getting serious here," she half taunted.

Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun looked at her with determination in their faces. "Yes Lady Nelliel!"

The trio charged at Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck at top speeds with smirks of their own. They had grown fond of the former Tercera Espada ever since they met her. She had suddenly appeared shortly after Harribel's takeover with her two goofy looking fraccions asking about the substitute soul reaper that Aizen was so interested in. She was intent on finding him for whatever reason, but they were in no condition to go anywhere after the battles in Las Noches so Harribel made them rest.

Since then they had been content to stay in Hueco Mundo since no one had any information on Ichigo Kurosaki and they didn't want to draw attention from the Soul Society by appearing in the living world. Besides, Nel still needed to recover from her bizarre case. Due to an injury received earlier in life by Nnoitra, Nelliel reverted into a child. But, thanks to her strong will to protect Ichigo, she returned to her true self. Since then Nelliel's transformations have been unstable. Her fraccions and Harribel hoped that by training, Nelliel's Reiryoku would stabilize.

The Tres Bestias charged at Nel at different angles hoping to overwhelm her. Nel expertly dodged them and was able to knock away Sung-Sun when she tried to attack from behind. Apacci and Mila Rose got up close and attempted to hit her. Nel was easily able to dodge and block through the flurry of punches.

Suddenly Apacci yelled, "Now Sung-Sun! Sneak attack!" Nel's eyes widened as she noticed Sung-Sun charging a cero a distance away. She fired as soon as Nel noticed but she was still able to evade by flying upwards.

Mila Rose was pissed, "You dumbass! It's not much of a sneak attack if you LOUDLY ANNOUNCE IT!" The two of them shot ceros at Nel whilst still arguing and so didn't notice that they missed by a large margin. Sung-Sun rolled her eyes at this and realized she would have to take matters into her own hands. She went back to the ground to prepare a trap. Meanwhile, Apacci and Mila Rose were still arguing.

"You girls really need to learn to ignore each other's insults," Nel said as she knocked them both into the ground. She landed and prepared herself for their counterattack. The two loudmouthed arrancars got up, frustrated, but were silent when they realized what Sung-Sun had set up for them. They once again charged Nel and she continued to parry.

' _Are they really trying this again? Surely they don't think it'll work…'_ Nel realized suddenly that she couldn't sense Sung-Sun's energy. She took her eyes off of her attackers for a second to try and locate Sung Sun. At that moment, Sung-Sun burst out of her Muda dome and put her zanpakuto to Nel's throat as the other two grabbed her arms.

Nel smiled as Sung-Sun said, "I believe that's game, Lady Nelliel."

"Excellent work ladies! You're getting stronger each time we train." They released her and Apacci and Mila Rose high fived.

"Yes! We did it!"

"Yes. As usual you two acted as the perfect distraction. Strange how you are always in that role in my plans," Sung-Sun mocked.

"What did you say, you bitch?! You never could've caught her by yourself. Don't act all high and mighty!" yelled Apacci.

"You're so easy to rile up, Apacci." Nel shook her head amused as another voice filled the air.

"If you want my opinion, you all did great." Harribel landed next to them with an approving look. She was quite glad that Nelliel had been willing to help train her followers. They needed someone stronger than them to really test their abilities. At first she had wished that Grimmjow had stayed in Las Noches with them to train as he was closer to their level (Harribel could practically hear the "SCREW YOU!" from him in her mind) but he had left in a rage after being healed and finding out that Ichigo had somehow defeated Aizen. She imagined that he was still out there in the desert somewhere, constantly training to kill Ichigo. Harribel quickly realized that it was better for Nel to train them since she was more patient and not as brutal as Grimmjow.

"Lady Harribel, you honor us. We couldn't have made it this far without Lady Nelliel's training," Mila Rose praised Nel, causing her to sheepishly scratch the back of her head. Her own fraccions, Pesche and Dondochakka, landed nearby to offer their own praises.

"Yes Lady Nelliel, you are truly an inspiration to all hollows to get stronger!"

"And to protect each other, don't'cha know?"

"Aw come on you guys! You'll make me blush." Nel's smile faded after she said this, "You ladies are getting stronger but to be honest I feel like I might be slowing down…" Apacci frowned.

"Don't be ridiculous. We still have trouble keeping up with you. Your power is as large as it ever was."

"Well I hope you're right. After all I need to be in top shape for when I see Ichigo and his friends again!"

Harribel chuckled at her enthusiasm, "You're dead set on seeing that guy again, huh?"

Nel gave a big smile. "Of course! It's thanks to him that I was able to regain my memories. I wanna talk with him. I think he would like you ladies as well."

Harribel nodded. "I wouldn't mind meeting the man who defeated Aizen, one day. I owe him my thanks."

"That goes double for us. I'd also like to see that Orihime girl again. She saved our lives," Mila Rose said. Apacci and Sung-Sun silently nodded in agreement. Nel's spiritual power suddenly started to wildly fluctuate and she fell to her knees, holding her head.

"Lady Nelliel!" Pesche and Dondochakka quickly came to her sides and helped her up.

"Dammit…not again…"

"Nel, you need to rest," said Harribel concerned.

"No I'll be all right. I can maintain this form. I-" A puff of smoke loudly burst from her and where she was standing a child was present. She quickly fell asleep from the strain of transforming.

"Damn. I was hoping for some more training. Our power isn't growing as quickly as I would like," Mila Rose huffed.

Harribel shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid we might have a bigger problem than that." The Tres Bestias looked at her confused.

Pesche looked at Harribel solemnly. "So you've noticed as well Lady Harribel?"

"What are you talking about?," Sung-Sun asked for once confused.

"Lady Nelliel is dying." The Tres Bestias were shocked into silence by this declaration.

"When her mask fragment was damaged, she began leaking reiryoku out of the cracks. This is what lead to her turning into a child in the first place. The child form made it so that the amount of reiryoku lost was minimal, she could've lived almost a full life on what she had left. But since meeting Ichigo she regained her memories and her true form. She's been forcing herself to maintain that form but that is causing her to lose much more reiryoku. As an espada she has reiryoku to spare, which is likely why you haven't sensed any change yet. But it will only continue to drain. Eventually she won't even have enough left to transform and she'll die shortly after that."

Harribel further explained, "We had hoped that by training and refining her reiryoku, it might stabilize to a degree but it hasn't helped."

"Damn it!," Pesche slammed his fist into the ground and turned to Dondochakka, "We're supposed to be her protectors! People she can count on! But we're useless in this situation! That fucking bastard Nnoitra ruined her life!"

Pesche's unusual moodiness was rubbing off on the others. Sung-Sun looked concerned, "Surely there must be something we could do? Couldn't we repair her mask fragment?"

Harribel shook her head, "It is doubtful we would be able to figure out the correct procedure to repair it ourselves. Before Aizen showed up, Arrancars were extremely rare. We know next to nothing about our spiritual anatomy. The only person who might have known was Szayel and he's dead."

They all fell into deep thought when suddenly Dondochakka yelled out, "I've got it! I've got a brainstorm, don't'cha know!"

Apacci scowled, "Anything in your brain is a storm. This is serious!"

"No really! I've got an idea! It's risky but it'll save Lady Nelliel's life! Follow me!" With that he took off with Pesche quickly picking up Nel and following. Harribel also followed suit. The Tres Bestias looked at each other, shrugged, and then followed as well.

* * *

 _Karakura Town, Kurosaki Residence, a few days later_

* * *

Ichigo woke up, his eyes opening slowly. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a number of seconds and then let out a long drawn out sigh. He had had the same dream again. They hadn't been around lately but of course they would return on this day, exactly seven months since Ichigo lost his powers. He was keeping track. It was always the same. The situations were different but the theme was always the same. He had his powers back and he was fighting alongside his friends. Ichigo looked over at his clock and he seriously considered staying home from school, but he knew he had responsibilities and the work would take his mind off of what he was feeling anyway. He got up and got ready to go into the shower.

"GOOD MORNING, ICHIGOOOOOOOOOO!" His dad, Isshin, burst into the room and came flying at him at an angle, legs first. Ichigo let out a sigh and merely side stepped and let Isshin fly out the window.

"Morning." Isshin crashed into the ground and his face grimaced but not just because he was in pain. It was because of Ichigo's reaction. Normally Ichigo would get angry and shout and yell insults. But he was in such a funk that Isshin couldn't even get that reaction out of him. He understood his son's pain.

Ichigo wasn't hurting because he missed the "exciting" lifestyle (though it was good for an adrenaline rush).

He was hurting because of guilt. Guilt over having dragged all his friends into this crazy spiritual world, guilt over making them targets for hollows, guilt over not being able to help them, and guilt that he could no longer protect people from these dangers. Ichigo had been okay at first but as the months dragged on he became more and more depressed. Isshin had had a similar experience after he lost his own powers.

 _At least I had Misaki and my children to cheer me up. Ichigo won't talk to anyone about this because he doesn't want to burden them with his problems. Dammit Ichigo…_

Later Ichigo came down for breakfast and was greeted by his sisters.

"Hello Ichigo!"

"Morning Ichi-nii."

Ichigo smiled, "Good morning, Yuzu, Karin." His sisters were one of the few things left that could make him completely genuinely smile. He had been spending a lot of time with them lately.

 _I guess that's one good thing about not having powers._ But that feeling quickly soured as Ichigo slowly ate his breakfast.

 _I've heard rumors that Karin might have developed a bit of power. Yuzu can fully see spirits now. That makes them targets._

He grimaced. _No. Nothing will happen to them. Dad can protect them._ He knew this but he still worried that Isshin could be overwhelmed by whatever and it would get his family. Ichigo could never forgive himself if that happened.

"Ichigo, are you alright? You're not eating very much…" Yuzu looked concerned.

Ichigo paused before answering, "I guess I'm not very hungry. I should get going. I'll see you all later." With that he quickly left for school, leaving his sisters frowning. Karin knew the situation and Yuzu had a vague idea. They wished they could do something to make their brother feel better.

On the walk to school, Ichigo had the same thoughts he had every few weeks since his powers disappeared.

 _I wonder how many hollows will show up today? Uryu told me that sometimes they are actually just going to the bathroom but still… I hope they don't run into any trouble. I doubt Imoyama would be able to help them much_ ("It's Zennosuke!"). _Huh? What the hell was that? Anyway I just wish I could have some level of power. Hell I wish I could just see spirits again! Never thought I would wish for that…_

But most of all he just wanted to hear from the Soul Society again. He hadn't heard a single thing from them since the fight with Aizen. Ichigo couldn't help but feel confused and a bit hurt by this. He knew it would be easy for them to just get a gigai and say hello. So why didn't they?

 _Was I never anything more than an asset against Aizen to them?_ Ichigo quickly pushed this dark thought away. There was no way they would do that. They were comrades and friends. They probably still just needed to clean up the mess that Aizen left. They had more important things to do than come to Karakura Town.

Finally, Ichigo made it to the school and greeted his friends in the classroom.

"Hey guys."

"Morning Ichigo," Uryu said respectfully. Chad gave a nod as greeting.

"H-hi Ichigo!" Orihime blushed upon seeing him. _Ask him out. ASK HIM OUT!_

"Good morning Orihime." Ichigo gave her a smile. She was another thing that made him smile due to her just being her. She merely blushed more and turned away.

 _Maybe tomorrow…_ Tatsuki facepalmed at this. Orihime promised she would ask him out today.

Shaking her head she turned to Ichigo and said, "Hey Ichigo. Here's the next volume of J-Off! Read it quickly though. Chizuru wants it next."

Ichigo chucked, "Yeah alright. Thanks."

He then noticed Tatsuki's giant, teasing grin. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing I'm just still surprised that you're so into such a cutesy series like that." She had given the first volume to him as a joke, but he took a liking to it and asked for the other volumes.

Ichigo scowled, "Hey it's relaxing okay?! Sometimes I just want to sit back and not do anything. Stop laughing!"

Tatsuki's laughter subsided and but then she had a serious expression on her face, "Hey, are you still upset about that whole soul reaper business?"

Ichigo frowned a bit, "Yeah. But I'll get over it."

"That's what you've been saying for the past 7 months. You can talk to us about it you know." Tatsuki had tried yelling at him before to make him better but, amazingly, didn't work. She since adopted a gentler approach but he was still in the dumps.

"Don't worry about it. I really will be ok." Tatsuki frowned and was about to respond when Keigo burst into the room excited,

"ICHIGO! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A NEW STUDENT AND SHE'S SO GORGEOUS AND HER HAIR IS BEAUTIFUL AND- wait a minute. She doesn't happen to have some connection to you and those ghost guys, does she?" He looked at Ichigo, suspicious.

Ichigo sighed, "Not every attractive girl who comes to our school is from the spiritual world, Keigo. Stop yelling."

"Oh good. THAT MEANS I HAVE A CHANCE!" Ichigo and Tatsuki both punched Keigo in the face.

Shortly thereafter the teacher walked in and class began.

"Alright class. We have a new student. I hope you will make her feel welcome." Ichigo didn't bother looking up and just stared out the window forlornly. He heard Orihime gasp loudly, which made Ichigo decide to look. If he wasn't so shocked by who it was, he would've let out a "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Standing there was the former espada who had helped Ichigo and friends in Hueco Mundo, Nel. Her mask fragment and scar were gone, since she was in a gigai but it was undoubtedly her. She was in a typical Karakura High School girls uniform and she had a interesting looking bracelet on. The girls were murmuring about her odd hair color, while the boys focused on other… assets.

"Hello. My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. But you can call me Nel. It's nice to meet you!"

"That's a rather bizarre name."

"Oh well, that's just how names are where I'm from."

"...Where are you from?"

Without missing a beat, Nel responded, "Wales." _I wonder why Mr. Urahara picked that place in particular…_

"Oh that makes sense. But wait. How come you don't have an acce—"

"Sensei, we should get started." One of the other students interrupted.

"Well alright. Anyway I hope you enjoy it here. Take a seat next to Kurosaki." Nel mentally sighed in relief at the interruption. She walked to where Ichigo, still in shock, was sitting.

"Hello."

"H-hi," Ichigo stammered in shock. Nel gave him a knowing smile and sat next to him. The teacher began lecturing and Ichigo and Orihime stared at each other from across the room slackjawed. Uryu and Chad looked confused. Ichigo had a million questions in his mind but he would have to wait until lunch to ask. He tried to focus on the lecture in the meantime but it was hard to since he really wanted to ask Nel what the hell was going on. Things were about to get interesting.

* * *

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. It's the first piece of fanfiction that I've written (that I've published anyway.) If there is anything, logistical, grammatical, or otherwise that you see wrong with this fic don't hesitate to tell me. I want to improve my writing after all.

In case you were wondering and decided to read this author's note (You must be bored, huh?) I'm a big Bleach fan. It was the first anime/manga series I ever got into and thus holds a special place in my heart. I actually stopped reading it around the end of the Fake Karakura Town arc and just recently caught up with it and fell in love with it all over again. That's what spurred the creation of this fic.

As far as the shipping part of this fic goes it is an IchiNel story as you might have gathered. I always thought it was a fun pairing, especially with the whole duality thing going on (She's a hollow, he's a human/soul reaper, etc.) There's not a whole lot of IchiNel stories so I figured I'd try to write my own. I used to be a big IchiRuki shipper but that kind of died off when Ichigo and Rukia stopped having scenes together. Maybe I should rewatch the first couple of arcs huh?

Anyway I hope you fav and review this story and I should mention now that this fic is 100% approved by my roommate who's only knowledge of Bleach comes from what I've told him and he half jokingly thinks the main character of the series should be Mr. Bleach! If you can't trust him who can you trust, am I right? See you next chapter!

* * *

 _Shinigami Cup! (Golden!)_

Nobody noticed Keigo being gloomy in the corner. _He does know her. Ichigo, why do you always get the girls?!_

Mizuiro noticed this and said, "Don't feel bad Keigo. You can always hang out with my girlfriend and I."

Keigo face planted into his desk. "Thank you…," He muttered into the desk.


	2. Beginning Anew

_Karakura High, Lunch Time_

* * *

 _Finally!_ Ichigo was greatly relieved when it came time for lunch. He had quickly given up trying to focus on the lectures and just speculated wildly about why Nel would show up at his school like this. Was there some kind of danger? Was she upset about him leaving without saying anything? (He only just now realized that he kind of forgot about her after that other espada grabbed Orihime. Oops...) Was she simply visiting?

No matter what it was though, Ichigo was anxious but also really excited that she was there. There was something comforting about being able to see one of his friends from the spiritual world and just talk with her. It would make him feel like he was involved again.

He noticed that some of the girls and a lot of the boys were moving to invite her to eat with them but before they could reach her she turned to Ichigo and said,

"Excuse me, Ichigo, was it? Would you mind if I eat with you and your friends? I figured I'd ask since we both have interesting hair colors."

Ichigo was somewhat impressed by her subtlety in asking him. She's certainly less suspicious than his soul reaper friends. It's almost like they wanted to draw attention to themselves!

"Y-yes of course! Follow me," Stuttered Ichigo, excited.

Nel giggled and followed. Ichigo ignored the utterances of "lucky bastard" from the other boys.

When they reached the rooftop where Ichigo and his friends usually ate lunch, Ichigo turned to face her. _All right, just stay calm. Ask your questions in a calm manner. You gotta stay cool._

"N-nel, what are- why are you- how did you- where- what- huh?" _DAMMIT!_

"Shhh…" Nel placed a finger on his lips and said, "Ichigo, before you say anything, I've got a couple of things I want to say to you."

"Y-yes?"

Suddenly without warning Nel slapped him across the face. "OW! What the hell?!" Nel looked pissed but also really cute, in Ichigo's opinion. He pushed that to the back of his mind for now.

"You jerk! That was for leaving me behind in Hueco Mundo all by myself!"

 _Oh shit._ Ichigo was afraid of this. He felt really bad when he realized he forgot about her but he had hoped that she wouldn't mention it.

"Would you care to explain how that happened?! Last thing I remember was turning back into a kid and failing to kill Nnoitra. When I woke up, everyone was either dead or gone! I searched all of Las Noches expecting to find your corpse! I was worried sick! Luckily Tier showed up and told me what happened or I would've come here without any sort of plan and probably gotten captured by the Soul Society or something!"

"N-now Nel, wait a minute. I-I can explain it-"

"I can explain it myself! You show up, blow up the place, and then waltz out to fight Aizen and you never once thought to come back and get me! What the hell! You never thought to mention that there was a poor injured girl and that maybe one of your allies should get her?!"

At this point Orihime, Uyru, and Chad showed up on the roof. Nel turned to Orihime accusingly and said, "For that matter, you didn't think to say anything?! And I thought you two were gentlemen! You just left?!"

Chad and Uryu were shocked by the accusation and Orihime merely stuttered in response. She hadn't expected to be yelled at about this.

"W-well Nel, Y-you have to understand. A lot of stuff happened between now and then-"

"That's no excuse." Everyone turned to Ichigo, who had regained his wits and had a serious look on his face.

"It's certainly true that a lot of shit happened after your fight with Nnoitra. The fights got more intense, the magnitude of the conflict escalated quickly, and after my fight with Aizen I ended up comatose for a month. But that still doesn't change the fact that I forgot about you. I'm truly sorry and I'll do anything to make it up to you. We didn't know each other for very long but we fought together and I would've died were it not for you."

At this heartfelt apology, Nel's expression softened and she gave a small smile, "Thank you, Ichigo. I was pretty hurt by your leaving but I knew you would never intentionally hurt my feelings like that. Just hearing your apology is enough for me. Though if you still want to make it up to me, you can start by properly introducing me to your friends."

Ichigo had a big smile after hearing this. His friends were shocked seeing this. He had barely smiled after losing his powers and it seemed that nothing could make him happy for more than a little bit.

"Of course! You meet Orihime before. And these two are Uryu and Chad. Or as you might remember them "glasses" and "the giant."

Orihime smiled and bowed respectfully, "It's nice to see you again, Nel."

Chad spoke confused, "You say we've met, Ichigo, but I don't remember her at all."

Uryu was equally confused, "I don't remember either. But you do look like that little Arrancar kid we found on the desert. Are you her sister or something?"

Nel let out a little giggle, "No no. That little kid was me."

Chad and Uryu's eyes widened, "What?! Jeez, I wasn't aware that Arrancars aged so quickly…"

Nel let out a laugh at this, "No that's not it. It's a bit complicated but to put it simply, I was fully grown, then I was turned into a kid, and, thanks to Ichigo here, I was able to return to my true self."

Before Uryu could ask more about this, Ichigo asked, "Nel, you said you had a couple of things to say. What was the other thing?"

"Oh right. The other thing was: ICHIGO!" Nel suddenly tackle hugged Ichigo and squeezed him tight, "I'm so glad to see you again! We're gonna have so much fun!"

Orihime had a shocked expression on her face and Chad was able to see the jealousy in her face. He put a hand on her shoulder to provide some comfort. Though he also couldn't help but smirk at Ichigo's flustered face caused partially from being hugged by a beautiful woman and partially from being unable to breathe.

"N-nel. Can't… Breathe…" At least the lack of oxygen distracted from his perverted thoughts about her breasts squeezing against him.

"Oh sorry," Nel released him and they gave each other a smile. Suddenly they were loudly interrupted, which made them jump in surprise.

"NO! ICHIGO, HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS AGAIN?! YOU CAN AT LEAST GIVE ME A CHANCE!" Keigo had seen the hug and was ranting incoherently along with Chizuru at their "lost chance."

Tatsuki whacked them both on the head, "Oh shut up you guys. You never had a chance with her anyway." She shook her head and then turned to Nel, "Well given Ichigo and Orihime's reactions to you, I can only assume you're somehow connected to this whole spiritual business. Are you another one of those soul reapers?"

Nel looked at her surprised, "You're pretty perceptive. It's true that I'm not from the living world, but I'm not a soul reaper. I am an Arrancar."

Ichigo's non-powered friends looked confused at this. Mizurio asked, "What's an Arrancar? Isn't that a Spanish word?"

It was Nel's turn to look confused after hearing this, "...Wait what? You don't know what an Arrancar is? You guys are Ichigo's friends, right?"

"Well yeah but he doesn't really explain all that much about this stuff to us. None of them do really," Keigo shrugged.

Nel pouted at Ichigo, "Are you serious? You don't tell them anything?!"

"I-I don't want to unnecessarily worry them about it!" Ichigo stuttered in his defense.

"Just informing them is better than nothing! Jeez!" Nel shook her head, while Ichigo scratched his sheepishly, "Anyway, an Arrancar is a hollow, who has removed its mask and regained their humanity, both physically and emotionally."

Some of them tensed upon hearing that the woman in front of them was actually a hollow. Orihime quickly assured them that Nel was not like the hollows that they had seen before. Keigo gave a perverted smile, "How come you're so much nicer and less insane than other hollows? And more importantly, are all hollows as good looking as you under those masks?"

Nel ignored his obvious flirting and responded, "When a hollow becomes an Arrancar, they typically have achieved purpose, a reason to live beyond the survival instinct. This purpose fills the emptiness that all hollows feel. I was lucky enough to discover my own purpose, to protect others and do what I could for the betterment of all hollows. Others were not so lucky and they held on to their base instincts. That's probably the result of Aizen making so many artificial Arrancars, they couldn't evolve naturally by finding a purpose so they were still lost."

Those that had went to Hueco Mundo thought about the Arrancars they had encountered and how Nel's explanation applied to them. Suddenly Chizuru spoke up, "Who's this Aizen guy you mentioned?"

Nel's eyes widened, "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO AIZEN IS?! ICHIGO!" She turned to him flabbergasted, "You didn't think to mention at least Aizen to them?! What if he tried to go after them due to their connection to you?"

Ichigo gulped and meekly replied, "Well actually that's exactly what happened…"

"Seriously?! Come on! He was gonna destroy Karakura Town! Some advance warning to your friends would've been nice!"

"Wait a minute… Karakura Town was gonna be destroyed?!"

"OH MY GOD!"

Ichigo waved his hands frantically trying to calm Nel down, "Alright, alright! Settle down! Look, maybe you're right. Maybe we should keep everyone in the loop. I'll talk to them at some point soon." Nel nodded and was about to say some more but Ichigo interrupted, "But now isn't the time. I'm pretty hungry, don't know about the rest of you." He had felt abnormally hungry since Nel appeared.

"Yeah let's eat," Said Keigo. Ichigo's friends were all kind of surprised at how quickly he agreed to talk to everyone about the spiritual happenings. They had been trying for months to get him to open up a bit more but he always shut them down or gave terse replies.

They all started to unpack their lunches when Ichigo noticed that Nel did not have one. "Hey, what are you going to eat?"

"Oh don't worry. It'll be here soon." At that moment Nel's fraccions landed on the rooftop. They were both dressed in outlandish outfits, similar to their regular outfits. They ran up to Nel.

"Lady Nelliel! We have brought your lunch! You left it in your haste to get here…"

"Thank you, you two! And you don't have to bow! Seriously, don't bow. That's not something that people seem to do here."

"Who are these guys?" Asked a confused Chizuru. Before anyone could answer the smaller guy with blond hair turned to Uryu and smiled.

"Hey Ishida! How's it goin' my man?"

Uryu looked confused for a second before recognizing the voice and connecting the dots, "Oh no! Not you!"

Pesche's smile grew bigger, "Hey now! Is that anyway to greet an old battle buddy? Don't you remember when we defeated that Privaron Espada?"

"We?"

"C'mon I helped!"

"Causing her to slip slightly and looking up her skirt doesn't count as help."

"Well what about when we fought Szayel together?"

"Taking out your sword and making it seem like you're whipping out your genitals doesn't count as help either!" At this point everyone was giving Uryu some strange looks, "H-hey don't look at me like that! He's the one who did that stuff!"

This made everyone laugh and Ichigo shook his head amused, "Good to see you, Pesche. You too, Dondochakka."

"Thank you, Ichigo. We're all glad to see the living world. It's certainly more colorful than Hueco Mundo, don'tcha know?"

"We should probably get going. We'll see you at the Urahara Shop, Lady Nelliel," Pesche and Dondochakka left and Ichigo turned to Nel, "The Urahara Shop? How did you get involved with Mr. Hat-and-Clogs?"

"Oh I guess I didn't explain what exactly I'm doing here, did I? Well I was actually dying up until a few days ago," Ichigo spit out his drink and was about to loudly say something but Nel interrupted him, "Don't worry I'm fine now. My damaged mask was leaking reiryoku but luckily Pesche and Dondochakka were able to save my life."

* * *

 _Flashback, Urahara Shop_

* * *

After the White Invasion, Urahara had gone back to his simple life as a shopkeeper. He was glad to be able to relax finally after the past 100 years or so. Aizen was defeated, the Gotei 13 no longer wanted him and the Vizards dead, and they were content to let him stay in the living world. He'd grown quite fond of it, and it's people, over the years.

Thinking about the residents of Karakura Town made Urahara chuckle. They were certainly a group of colorful characters. Thinking about one in particular made him frown slightly. Urahara, since day one, had been trying to devise a way to return Ichigo's powers to him. He knew Ichigo would be upset. The problem is that it would be hard to return Ichigo to his former level of power and beyond that there's all the legal problems with Central 46. They could be debating this problem for years!

 _Isshin said he's getting worse. I need to think of a solution faster._ Urahara was drawn out of his thoughts by Tessai, "Boss, we're getting an incoming transmission."

"The Soul Society?"

"No. I believe the signal is coming from Hueco Mundo."

Intrigued, Urahara went to the viewscreen room. Yoruichi was already there and she answered the call when Urahara entered.

On the screen, they saw several Arrancars in a ruined laboratory. The ones closest to the screen were very bizarre with large masks and they were holding a small arrancar child. They were in the middle of conversation.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course! Szayel had information on every one of the soul reapers who opposed Aizen. If we can contact one of them in the living world, they can help Lady Nelliel, don'tcha know?"

"What makes you think that they're help you?"

"Guys, I think we're on!" They all noticed that Urahara had answered the call.

One of the weird arrancars spoke first, "Kisuke Urahara! Don't be alarmed. We are not trying to invade the living world. In fact, we beg for your help!"

Urahara looked intrigued, "What would arrancars need my help with?" He smirked, "I mean unless you want some fashion tips, I'm afraid-"

One of the normal looking arrancars got upset by this, "Shut it, you freak! This is serious!"

"Apacci. Let Pesche handle this," commanded one of the other arrancars, who Urahara recognized as one of the espada.

Pesche continued, "Please consider our plea. It's a life and death situation," he held up the unconscious child to the screen, "She is dying. But the remedy she requires is beyond our understanding. We know that you have scientific expertise, so please save her life."

Urahara looked thoughtful at this, while Yoruichi looked skeptical, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Kisuke? Can we just let arrancars into the world of the living?"

Pesche answered first, "Only Dondochakka and I will go with Lady Nelliel. We are no match for captains such as yourself and she will not attack you when she is revived."

Dondochakka chose to intervene at this point, "You must save her! If you have any doubts, we're friends of Ichigo Kurosaki and his group, don'tcha know? Ask them!"

Harribel also gave some encouragement, "The human Orihime Inoue saved my life and those of my fraccion. I give you my word as Queen of Hueco Mundo that no harm will come to anyone in the World of the Living."

Urahara and Yoruichi seemed convinced and they figured that if they were friends of Ichigo, they might be able to help him cheer up a bit, "All right. I'll look at her and see what I can do. Open a garganta in my shop's training area and we'll talk."

"We are in your debt!"

* * *

 _Later…_

* * *

After being informed of Nel's situation, Urahara took her under a scanner and saw her body's spiritual anatomy, "Well this scan pretty much confirms what you told me. This mask crack is draining her energy."

His slow uncertain tone made Pesche and Dondochakka nervous, "Would it help if she were in her real form? You might get a clearer scan."

"Real form?"

"Yeah. Lady Nelliel is actually an espada! She's really a young woman about Ichigo's age."

This news shocked Urahara and Yoruichi, "Are you telling me this child form came about to conserve her energy?"

"This is fascinating. A young woman you say?" Urahara got a giant grin on his face and covered his face with his fan, "She might be able to cheer up Ichigo more than I thought. Heh heh heh!"

Yoruichi scowled and wacked him, "Stop being a perv, Kisuke! Can you help her or not?"

Urahara sighed, "Well I don't know too much about the nature of Arrancarification, so I won't be able to repair her mask right away," Pesche and Dondochakka slouched after hearing this, "However if I get a good scan off of her adult self I believe I can devise a temporary solution. I can make a device to redirect her internal spirit energy pathways. It'll stop the leaking and allow her to recover somewhat but she shouldn't do any fighting or intense training."

The two fracciones looked relieved, "That's fine. We were thinking of maybe staying here for awhile anyways. Lady Nelliel's always wanted to see the Living World."

"Good. I think Ichigo and his friends will be happy to see you. Tessai will show you some rooms to stay in. Meanwhile I have to get to work here."

* * *

 _Present day_

* * *

"After a while, Mr. Urahara made this cute looking bracelet that I'm wearing now. It's stabilized my energy and now I'm recovering!"

"That's great Nel!"

"He then was able to get me into Karakura High so I could see you guys. You know the rest I guess."

Everyone seemed to understand except for Keigo, "I have a question. How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?"

Everyone looked at Keigo as if that were a really dumb question, "...N-nevermind…"

"Anyway I'm starved! Let's see what I got!" Nel opened her lunch and gasped in happiness, "Oh boy, look!" Ichigo saw what she had and was confused when he saw an ordinary lunch. Nothing special,

"So what?"

"So I've never had anything like this before! In Hueco Mundo there isn't much to eat besides other hollows and tea. It looks yummy!"

Ichigo chuckled at her enthusiasm. They then spent the rest of the lunch period asking questions about the others home. It was like when Rukia was trying to learn about the world except more intense. For every question Ichigo asked about Hueco Mundo, Nel would ask five about the living world. He was surprised by how interested she was in this world. He thought it would seem very mundane to someone like her.

His friends were happy to see that Ichigo was actually smiling and laughing with Nel. She seemed to have a good effect on him.

The rest of the day went by as normal except for the fact that Nel was there. After school was over, Ichigo wanted to spend some more time with her, "Hey Nel, you wanna hang out some more at my house or something? I don't have anything else going on today."

Orihime, who was drinking water, spit it out after hearing this, "I would love to, but I have to go back to the Urahara Shop for a few more tests to make sure I'll be okay. But I should be fine after that," Orihime calmed herself down. _No need to get jealous. He hasn't seen her in a while and-_

Nel gave a big smile and kissed Ichigo on the cheek. He let out a small gasp and blushed, "Thanks for asking though. We'll have plenty of time to do stuff together later!"

"S-sounds good…" Nel giggled and winked before sauntering off. Ichigo, still in shock and feeling where he was kissed, mumbled a goodbye to his other friends and then started to head home. Orihime watched the whole scene in complete shock. Tatsuki noticed this, "You uh... wanna talk about that?"

Orihime silently nodded.

* * *

 _Kurosaki Residence_

* * *

"I'm home!" Ichigo's sisters greeted him. Karin was getting ready to meet up with some friends and Yuzu was doing some chores. They both stopped when they saw Ichigo and stared unbelievingly, "What's the matter, you two?"

"Ichigo… You're… smiling," Ichigo realized that he was and that he had had this giant, stupid grin ever since he left school, "Huh. I guess I am. I had a good day a school. Is it really that surprising to see me happy?"

Yuzu and Karin both gave him a look that said "really?" Ichigo scratched the back of his head, "I guess I have been a bit down lately. I'm sorry if I worried you two. I've just a lot on my mind lately. After Karin comes back, why don't we do something together?"

Their faces light up, "Yeah that sounds great!"

"Ichigo, you're looking better," Said Isshin who had walked into the room, "I'm glad. Because that can only mean one thing… YOU'VE FINALLY GOT A GIRLFRIEND! OH MISAKI OUR GRANDCHILDREN ARE COMING SOON!"

Ichigo scowled, "Shut up, old man! I'm going to my room till he calms down."

"DAMMIT YOU OLD MAN, YOU RUINED IT!" Karin started beating the hell out of Isshin while Yuzu desperately tried to calm them down. Ichigo went to room and couldn't help but laugh at his family's antics.

In his room his mind turned to Nel. She was great to be around. Her happy energy was contagious and she, oddly enough, made him forget about his spiritual problems. Ichigo briefly wondered if she knew about his powers and worried about how that would affect their relationship, but for now Ichigo was happy and he was looking forward to hanging out with his sisters. He was also looking forward to tomorrow.

That was a feeling that he hadn't felt for a while.

* * *

Whew! Well I guess it's been over a month since the last chapter huh? Well that's better than most fics I guess. I'm sorry for the delay here guys. I got a bit sidetracked the past few weeks but I'll try to keep future updates coming quicker.

But anyway I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited! This story got a pretty positive response and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Once again if there are any problems you see with this fic let me know. I feel like I may not be giving our two romantic leads enough interaction. What do you think?

Anyway we got to see Ichigo, Nel, and friends interact a bit and address some things that I thought Kubo should have talked about a bit more. I was always peeved that the subject of Nel was never brought up again after the Hueco Mundo arc. They just forgot about her! The ninth opening of the anime also made it seem like she would join the gang in some capacity but that was just a lie! I was friggin pissed. Besides that we saw Ichigo and Nel start to build some chemistry here. We'll have to wait and see how Nel takes Ichigo's powerlessness.

Once again I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll try to get the next one out soon and Happy Holidays everyone!

* * *

 _Arrancar Encyclopedia!_

"Hiya folks! Gin Ichimaru here, from beyond the grave apparently, for another installment of the Arrancar Encyclopedia! Today we'll be talking about hollow's masks."

"When a soul becomes a hollow, its chain of fate or heart, erodes away and it becomes the hollow's mask, covering the soul's identity while ironically being the only reminder that it was once human. When an hollow becomes an Arrancar, the mask fragment that remains is a reminder that the soul is a hollow and it becomes an important part of its spiritual anatomy. When the fragment is damaged, like with Miss Nelliel, the spiritual pathways are thrown into flux. Completely removing the fragment forces the body to close off that pathway meaning it will not cause any problems but they will be unable to use their Resurreccion since the mask is vital to the transformation sequence."

"These examples also raise some questions about certain other examples of mask fragments. Like why did Findorr get stronger when he broke his mask fragment? How come some Arrancars fragments look nothing like they do in Resurreccion? Why do some fragments disappear completely? Like with Harribel. Does anyone know why her fragment disappears? Besides fanservice?"

"I don't know. Care to see if you can figure it out before I kill you?" Gin turned and saw Harribel glaring at him with killer intent, "Oops! Gotta go!"

"DESTROY, TIBURON!" Harribel released her zanpakuto and chased Gin around Las Noches, swearing revenge against him and Aizen.


End file.
